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Thread: Production Beginner - noob Questions

  1. #1
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    Production Beginner - noob Questions

    Hi all,

    Might be a silly question but i'd like your advise in terms of how to get started in music production.

    So I need to buy a desktop PC right? Are Macs better for this sort of thing (I use a MacBook Pro for my Rekordbox etc)

    What is the best music production software to buy for proggy house/techno etc? Is it FruitLoops or is it something different?

    Do I also need to buy a drum machine and synthesizer keyboard or is this all embedded into the music software?

    How much should I be looking at spending?

    thanks so much!

  2. #2
    BanHammer™⚒️ Manu's Avatar
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    Moved to "production"

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by Manu View Post
    Moved to "production"
    Thanks dude.

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    Nobody has any advice?

  5. #5
    I use FL Studio and a PC. I got the Producer Edition - You get lifetime upgrades. You don't get much in terms of native vsts with that edition, but there are hundreds of free vsts that are very good and free.

    I do not have any idea about requirements or suggestions for a PC/Mac. I know a lot of people think Macs are better, but I don't think there is much of a difference between PCs being easy to cater to whatever you want to do and Macs having a set configuration. If you already have a Mac, you should be able to run your production off the laptop - I don't see the point of getting a new PC/Mac - unless you want a separate source to produce with.

    It is similar to the debate when I was a web designer that Macs are better. Not a difference in terms of performance and a lot of cash.

    I use a Arturia MiniLab as a midi device. You can get along with out a midi controller, it is just a lot harder.

    So I hope that helps.

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    Quote Originally Posted by djnotapplicable View Post
    I use FL Studio and a PC. I got the Producer Edition - You get lifetime upgrades. You don't get much in terms of native vsts with that edition, but there are hundreds of free vsts that are very good and free.

    I do not have any idea about requirements or suggestions for a PC/Mac. I know a lot of people think Macs are better, but I don't think there is much of a difference between PCs being easy to cater to whatever you want to do and Macs having a set configuration. If you already have a Mac, you should be able to run your production off the laptop - I don't see the point of getting a new PC/Mac - unless you want a separate source to produce with.

    It is similar to the debate when I was a web designer that Macs are better. Not a difference in terms of performance and a lot of cash.

    I use a Arturia MiniLab as a midi device. You can get along with out a midi controller, it is just a lot harder.

    So I hope that helps.
    Awesome thank you.

    What audio interface do you use?

  7. #7
    There is ASIO4ALL and also FL Studio has it's own ASIO.

  8. #8
    Greetings Perry,

    I don't know much (anything?) about producing House, not really my bag, but all DAW's (digital audio workstations) do pretty much the same thing, they just take different approaches depending on the minds of the designers. If you've got a Mac, you've already got a free DAW called Garageband. It isn't hugely endowed (ahem) with plugins and whatnot, unlike its big brother, Logic Pro X, but it's enough to get started with at no extra cost to you. Most of the major DAW's also have free and/or trial versions that you can download and try out to see which designer's mind is most in tune with yours.

    Once you've chosen one, as mentioned above, there are literally thousands of free VST/VSTi programmes available that work in almost any DAW; VST stands for Virtual Studio Technology and is a protocol that was developed by Steinberg for use in their Cubase and Nuendo products (before they were acquired by Yamaha) but was also opened up to other manufacturers. The 'i' stands for instruments, the original VST's were effects processors only (e.g. EQ, compression, etc.) but Steinberg went on to create and release the 'i' version of the protocol which led to virtual (plugin) synths, samplers, emulations of 'real' instruments, etc.

    If you know the instruments that are used to produce "proggy house/techno, etc.", you're bound to be able to find free or cheap emulations of them as VSTi, AU (Audio Units are like VST, except that they only work in Mac), etc. If not, that's your first area of research. Once you have the DAW and instruments sorted out, it would be helpful to have some sort of MIDI controller, which could be in the form of a keyboard, a pad bank, a breath controller (I kid you not), etc. You can control the instruments within the DAW using a mouse and/or (typing) keyboard but it won't feel like you're 'playing' the instruments.

    To ensure that what you're doing sounds good (sonic quality), you'll need a detailed, precise monitoring system with as near to a flat (frequency) response as possible. This will enable you to record/programme, mix and master your tracks with confidence because you can hear what's actually going on. Good monitoring can be expensive, great monitoring can be astronomically expensive, so most newbies (and many seasoned engineers) end up compromising on this part of their systems. While I wouldn't recommend shelling out thousands on a set of speakers/headphones, especially as a beginner, I would say that you shouldn't skimp on monitoring and allow for it to be at least 50% of your overall budget. Apart from the quality of the speakers and amplifiers (most studio monitors have the amps built in these days and are referred to as 'active' or 'powered', 'passive' speakers need to be driven by a separate amplifier), the next, equally important but often overlooked, part of the monitoring system is the acoustic environment, i.e. the 'sound' of the room that the system is set up in. Don't confuse acoustic treatment with soundproofing, they are not the same thing but both are useful (and often necessary) to the studio. You can purchase acoustic treatment kits from the likes of Auralex (foam, not recommended if you ask me) or GIK, etc. but, unlike studio monitors, you can save a ton of money by building them yourself.

    I don't think it would hurt to learn some music theory either. Even if you're able to play things by ear, music theory will help you to develop your ideas more quickly and cohesively. HTH

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    OK so went out and bought a new iMac and the Ableton Live 10 & Ableton Push. Also some HD25s for monitoring (I use Vero Moda Crossfade M100s for DJing).

    First reaction is it looks very complicated and is fiddly to actually get the beats etc down in a coherent way. I spent a couple of hours on it on Saturday and again yesterday, will give it another two hours every day this week and hopefully things might start making sense. I downloaded some third party plug ins and these sound a lot more usable than the internal ones that come with Ableton, although I've only looked at a few of them.

    Its pretty exciting I must say. The Push console especially is an outstanding bit of kit. So well made and laid out. Really impressive.

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